What:Time Warner and Google participated in a US$275 million round of funding in startup FanDuel, led by venture-capital firm KKR and Time Warner Investments, together with Turner Sports. Existing investors Shamrock Capital, NBC Sports Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures and Piton Capital also participated.Why it matters: The round brings New York-based FanDuel to US$363 million raised to date. Even though FanDuel is currently not profitable, the one-day fantasy sports operator claims paid active users have grown 300% from a year ago.

Time Warner and Google have participated in a US$275 million round of funding in startup FanDuel. Led by venture-capital firm KKR and Time Warner Investments, together with Turner Sports, the round brings New York-based FanDuel to US$363 million raised to date.

Even though FanDuel is currently not profitable, the one-day fantasy sports operator claims paid active users have grown 300% from a year ago.The financing will be used to increase customer acquisition efforts across the U.S., accelerate the introduction of new products, features and growth initiatives to serve the company’s mission to create the ultimate fan experience, and to build out its industry-leading management team.

Fantasy-sports gaming, in which players compete with virtual teams and players for real cash and prizes, is a booming business.

Fantasy-sports gaming, in which players compete with virtual teams and players for real cash and prizes, is a booming business. In 2014 U.S. and Canadian fans spent an estimated US$15 billion on fantasy sports, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Assn. ESPN last month inked a pact with DraftKings, a FanDuel competitor, under which DraftKings will be its exclusive daily-fantasy sports partner.Investment bank Mesa Global, recently acquired by Houlihan Lokey, advised FanDuel in the transaction.

FanDuel, based in New York City, was founded in 2009. The company offers multiple single-day game contests for the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and college football and basketball teams.The company announced this news on the heels of hiring an experienced team of over 40 developers based in Orlando, Florida focused exclusively on sports and mobile gaming and finalizing exclusive, multiyear partnerships with 13 NBA teams and 16 NFL teams. Mesa Global, which was recently acquired by Houlihan Lokey, served as FanDuel’s investment banker.

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#Portada17 (Sept. 13, 2017 in NYC) will be all about Sports Marketing and insights and best
practices on how best to use sports content to connect with the exploding multicultural demographic!

We talked to Mebrulin Francisco, managing partner and expert in multicultural marketing analytics at Group M, and she shared some of the key insights to take into account when approaching data analytics.